


Cybertronian Rebel Corps: Epilogue

by JadeStarFish



Series: Neutrals [3]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Family, More OCs than before, Post-War, So many OCs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:14:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26924947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadeStarFish/pseuds/JadeStarFish
Summary: The war is over. Now it's up to Liliy to keep the peace while they start to build a free Cybertron.
Series: Neutrals [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1049213
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Back again. Picks up right where I left off at the end of the main fic. Chapters are gonna be shorter cause I don't have a frame to work with.

Leecher returned to the Nemesis after a short chat with Charlie. After that, they returned to Earth.

All the planning and organizing was left in AA-00’s capable servos. Ucon remained behind as their assistant. Obviously, Whiskey stayed too. Echo also remained on the Nemesis to handle communications. Mike and Nova were called up to help with the mining details.

Bravo, on the other hand, returned to the base. He had a lot of work to do. A another, larger Spark Detection System had to be built for them to use on Cybertron. And that was only the top of the list. X-ray could help him with part of it. And some of it could wait until they actually went back to Cybertron. Then, he could utilize the vehicons. He already had his optic on a few of them that showed exceptional talent for engineering while they were building the Lock. But he’d have to bring that up with the commanders later.

Leecher returned to the base as well. It was agreed that they would wait until it was time to go back to Cybertron to wake up all the vehicons that the CRC were keeping in stasis. But there was one person that Liliy didn’t want to wait for. And she wasn’t going to let AA-00 ‘have a say’ about it either. She was going to wake him up now.

Going down to the catacombs, Leecher bypassed all the normal sized stasis pods and went to the other room. They entered and went straight for Predaking’s stasis pod. After inputting the deactivation code, Leecher stepped back. The stasis pod hissed as the seal broke and the hatch slid open, exposing Predaking to the outside air. Liliy slipped out of Leecher’s helm and plopped down on their shoulder to wait. It took a minute or two, but Predaking was slowly coming back online.

“Morning, sleeping beauty. Did you have a nice rest?” Liliy asked once he seemed coherent enough to understand.

Predaking blinked down at her. “Little one?”

“Yeah. It’s me. How do you feel? Can you move?”

Predaking lifted a servo and made a fist. He shifted his weight and tested his legs. They seemed fine so he carefully climbed out of the stasis pod.

“Where are we?” he asked, looking around at the other stasis pods.

“A place we affectionately call ‘the catacombs’, just because it’s silent as a tomb despite being full of living people. The CRC base is above us.”

“What happened? How long was I out?”

“After we picked you up, we brought you back to base for repairs and then put you down here. It’s only been a few weeks but seems like it’s been longer than that with everything that happened. Uh, let’s see. Long story short, we took down Megatron and revived Cybertron.”

He frowned. “That’s too short.”

Liliy laughed. “I guess it is. I’d love to share the details with you but there is something I want to show you first. Will you come with us?”

Predaking did the unexpected and extended his servo to her. “May I carry you there?”

Liliy looked at the long, clawed digits and remembered them crushing Leecher’s helm. “Only if you don’t mind me riding on your shoulder.”

“That is acceptable.”

Liliy slipped down to Leecher’s servo and stepped across to Predaking’s, before running up his arm to perch on his shoulder.

“Let’s go to the receiving room,” Liliy said with a nod to Leecher.

Leecher led the way out of the room, closing the door behind them. 

“Is this… Cybertron?” Predaking asked as they came out of the space bridge portal. They were at the edge of the city, overlooking the Sea of Rust. Although, it wasn’t looking so rusty now.

“That’s right,” Liliy replied. She zipped down from his shoulder and ran up to the top of the nearby pile of rubble in front of him. “The last time you were here, when Shockwave woke you up, this planet was dead. But now…” She closed her optics and drew in a deep vent. “Can you feel it? The planet is alive once again.” She turned to him with an excited smile. “Our home is alive!”

“A joyous thing indeed,” he said, looking more at her than at the scenery.

“Now then…” She sat down on the piece of debris she had been standing on. “Let’s get you up to speed.”

Liliy told him about what happened after he got kicked off the Nemesis. About how the CRC temporarily joined forces with the Decepticons to rebuild the Omega Lock. About how they took Megatron and the others down once the Lock was finished. About how they had to convince the vehicon commander and the insecticons to work with them. And finally how they went about reviving Cybertron.

“Right now, our goal is to clean up all the mines back on Earth before we head back here to start rebuilding,” she finished.

“I am curious about one thing,” Predaking said.

“And what would that be?”

“Why did you wake me first?”

“Ah.” Liliy picked at the edge of the debris. “Well, I could say it’s because you and I are the same. You may be a king without a people at the moment but you are still a leader. I think of our status as equal. But that’s not really why I woke you up first. I actually did it because I have a favor to ask. One I think you might enjoy.”

He eyed her. “What is it?”

“I would like you to survey the planet. Well, ok. Not the whole planet. It’s way too big for you to survey all by yourself. But I would like you to start the process. You are free to fly wherever you wish but as you move around, if you could send reports back to Charlie about changes in the landscape or whatever, that would be great.”

“Who is Charlie?”

“I’m Charlie,” said the gray femme as she approached them from inside the city. Quebec was right behind her. “While I’m not particularly fond of the idea of working with a predacon, I will follow the madam’s orders.”

Predaking frowned, optics narrowing. “You think I am inferior?”

Charlie shook her helm while keeping her posture neutral and non-threatening. “Not at all. I just simply have bad memories of an encounter with a predacon in the past. Watching your comrades get slaughtered by a crazed beast is not something you can easily forget.”

Predaking started at that. “You’ve met other predacons?”

“The one she is talking about,” Liliy replied, “was a long time ago, on Earth. It had suffered some cranial damage and ended up turning on the ones it was supposed to consider allies. Actually, it was attacking everything. I, uh… I personally killed it, saving Charlie and five others. My first followers.”

“Was it an instant death?”

She shrugged. “I cut its helm off as it was about to attack them.”

“Close enough, I suppose. And, thank you for telling me.”

“That’s actually something you might keep an optic out for,” Liliy said suddenly. “You were born in Shockwave’s lab. He, no doubt, had other labs here on Cybertron. Maybe he cloned more of your kind but wasn’t able to retrieve them.”

The idea seemed to excite Predaking but it was hard to tell that from the way he spoke. “Very well. I’ll agree to help. But only for you, little one.”

“YAY!” Liliy exclaimed as she jumped to her peds. She was on his shoulder in an instant, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, Predaking!”

Predaking froze as Liliy disappeared again. Receiving a kiss was a new and unexpected sensation, so he was uncertain of how to react. He reached up and gingerly touched the spot on his face. “What was that?”

“Ah…” Liliy stopped mid-stride as she was climbing back up the pile of debris. 

“Oh dear,” Charlie said.

“Pfft.” Quebec used his servo to quiet his laugh. 

“That…” Liliy was suddenly flustered. “That was a kiss…? A-a token of my appreciation... But it can be used for other things too… Do you really not know what that was?”

Predaking shook his helm.

“That’s…” She actually transformed and ran her hand roughly through her hair. “Slagging damnit…” 

Predaking raised an optic ridge at her sudden transformation. He was a little surprised that her alt was human but it was also understandable given her size. She looked up at him. He could actually see her eyes now since her visor became her headband by default. The glow from her actual optics was shining through more than usual, making her irises more red than brown.

“Please tell me you know what interfacing is?” she asked.

“Yes. I know what that is,” he said.

Liliy sighed in relief. “Oh thank Primus.” 

“Do you want me to lend him a datapad, madam?” Quebec asked, grinning.

“Would you? That would be fantastic.”

“Here.” Quebec passed the datapad he pulled out of his subspace to the predacon. “You can use this to look up anything you don’t know.”

“Well then, Predaking,” Liliy said quickly. “I have to get going. If you have any other questions, you can ask these two.” A space bridge portal opened nearby. “See you later.” And all but ran through it.

“PAHAHAHAHA!!” Quebec burst out laughing as soon as the portal closed. “I have never seen the madam so embarrassed before. Oh Primus, what a sight! Haha!”

Even Charlie was smiling. “Thank you, Predaking. We got to see something unexpectedly cute.” She changed the subject. “Anyway, here are our frequencies so you can contact either one of us. And as for energon, here are some spare cubes.” She pulled the cubes out of her subspace and handed them over to him. “When you need more, just contact us.”

He nodded as he took the cubes and put them away. “Thank you. I’ll be in contact later.”

“We’ll be waiting,” Charlie said as she turned to go.

“Be careful out there,” added Quebec with a wave as he followed Charlie.

Predaking watched them transform and fly off before he looked down at the datapad and the blank search bar waiting for his inquiry.


	2. Chapter 2

A few days later...

**{Hey, Predaking. It's me.}**

"Little one?"

**{Yeah. Um, I have another favor to ask you. Can you stop by Charlie's place?}**

"Yes. I will head there immediately."

**{Thank you.}**

Charlie's base was one of the few buildings in the area that was still standing, for the most part. One of the corners had started to collapse but they reinforced it to prevent any more damage. The reason they chose this particular building was because there were energon dispensers inside that were surprisingly still working. It also had a good lookout position on the second story and there was a basement that they fortified just in case. That was where they put the portable ground bridge generator. If they needed a bridge back to Earth, they would have to call for one.

Liliy was waiting for Predaking across the street. The front half of that building had collapsed, leaving its second and third story exposed. Predaking flew down, transforming just above the building, and landed on the road with a loud thud.

"Predaking, over here," Liliy called to him, standing on a pile of debris and waving.

His expression was a curious one as he approached her. She stiffened slightly when he cupped his servo around her but then he leaned down and dropped a kiss right on the top of her helm.

"Predaking?" she asked, surprised and confused as he straightened up.

"I read that kiss can also be used as a token of  _ affection _ ."

She stared up at him. It took a second for what he said to sink in. "Oh! I'm… Well, I'm flattered, but… It's just that… I-I can't return your feelings."

"You already have someone you love?"

"Yes… I mean, it was a long time ago. And she was a human. But ever since she died… There has been a hole in my spark, like part of me is missing. I have found it hard to truly  _ love  _ anyone since."

He dropped his gaze. "I see…"

An awkward silence hung in the air for a moment.

"Then... what about affection between friends?" Predaking asked.

Liliy gave him a soft smile. "If that's the case, then even once in a while is fine I suppose. But I prefer forehelm touches."

"What is that?"

"That's easy to show you. First, let me stand on your servo."

Bending slightly, he held his servo out for her to step onto.

"Now, raise me up close to your face."

He did so. "Like this?" He was going cross-eyed trying to focus on her.

"Yes." She touched his face with her servo and then leaned forward to press her forehelm to the top of his nasal guard. "This is how I like to show affection to my 'boys' since our size difference makes it hard to give hugs."

After she straightened up, he moved her away from his face. "Ah. I read about those, too. That is when you wrap your arms around another person and gently squeeze them."

She laughed. "Haha. Yes. Yes, that's more or less right."

He studied her for a moment. "This piece of your armor..." He gingerly tapped the off-center point on the tiara-like piece of red metal that wrapped around her forehelm. "Is this also a crown?"

She shrugged. "Well, I guess it could be."

"So that makes you a king like me."

"Technically, I would be a  _ queen _ since I'm a femme but don't you dare start calling me that. 'Little one' is perfectly fine."

He looked slightly disappointed. "As you wish." He lowered her down so she could hop off his servo. "Now, what was this other favor you wanted to ask me?"

"Oh, right! So, we decided to send some of the insecticons here ahead of the Nemesis to start moving debris and such. Kilo will be coming to make sure they keep in line but I was hoping you could lend him a servo. The insecticons respect strength. I'd say you fit that perfectly."

"Then how did you get their cooperation?"

"Leecher beat the scrap out of the strongest one we could find. And when they still didn't believe us, I let my blade do the talking. Worked like a charm."

"Hmh. And what about your 'Kilo'? Is he strong?"

"He is our heavy lifter. He's bigger than you in bot mode and is built like a tank even though he's a plane. If he got serious, he could probably take you in your beast form."

"Oh?"

She frowned at the sudden light in his optics. "If you just randomly attack him out of nowhere, I will kick your aft, Predaking! I swear!"

"So a formal challenge is alright?"

"Yes. But he has to accept. So please save it for later, when things have calmed down a bit."

"Very well. I will judge for myself when I see him if he might be a worthy opponent or not."

"So does this mean that you will help out with the insecticons?"

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt."

"Great! I'll contact you tomorrow when they arrive."


	3. Chapter 3

X-ray headed back to the area of the mine he had been working in. His mask was still pushed up after having some energon while on break. When he entered the little room off the main area, someone suddenly grabbed him and shoved him back against the wall, covering his mouth with their servo. On instinct, X-ray’s servo switched to a blaster as he shoved it into the bot’s side. Luckily, he got a good look at and recognized the mech before he fired. He put his blaster away and reached up to pull down the servo covering his mouth.

“Wheeljack?” X-ray gaped. 

Wheeljack just glared at him, too angry to speak at the moment.

“Wheeljack, what are you doing h-?”

He stopped at the sound of blasters charging. The vehicons who he had been helping just returned.

“Damn Autobot, let go of X-ray now!” one of them snapped.

“Stop!” X-ray held up his servo. “It’s alright. Put those away. He’s just here to talk,” he said, while silently urging Wheeljack to step away.

Still glaring, Wheeljack complied, letting go of X-ray and stepping back.

“See? It’s fine. Put away your blasters,” X-ray told the vehicons.

The vehicons did, slowly and a bit grudgingly, but they did.

“Thank you. Now, we’ll get out of your way so you can finish up here.” 

X-ray had to stop himself from grabbing Wheeljack’s servo as he moved back toward the main area. Wheeljack was angry enough already, X-ray was afraid that that would just make it worse. Fortunately, Wheeljack followed him on his own.

“Hirry!” X-ray called upon entering the main area, intentionally drawing attention to himself and additionally to Wheeljack who was behind him. “I’m stepping outside for a bit.”

Hirry’s optics flickered to Wheeljack and she nodded. “Understood. I’ll handle things from here.”

As X-ray and Wheeljack left the mine, one of the vehicons turned to Hirry.

“Is X-ray going to be ok?” they asked, sounding worried. “That Autobot looked pretty angry.”

“I’m sure you would be too, if you just found out the mech you’re dating is helping your enemy,” Hirry replied.

“They’re dating!?” someone else gasped.

“Yes. And, also, Wheeljack knows better than to hurt X-ray. He’d get his aft beat if he did.”

As they were exiting the mine, Wheeljack stalked past X-ray. Once they were outside, Wheeljack whirled around and exploded on him.

“WHAT IN THE FRAGGING SCRAP HEAP IS GOING ON HERE, X-RAY?! WHY IN THE PIT ARE YOU WORKING WITH THE DECEPTICONS?!”

X-ray drew back when Wheeljack yelled at him, but he replied calmly enough. “We’re not. We’re working with the  _ vehicons _ .”

“WHAT’S THE FRAGGING  _ DIFFERENCE _ ?” Wheeljack shouted, throwing up his arms.

“Megatron and his officers are out of the picture. The vehicon commander agreed to work with us, making them a neutral party now.”

Wheeljack huffed and growled, “Alright. And what exactly are you working on together?”

“Creating a free Cybertron.” X-ray was glad Wheeljack stopped yelling at least. 

That got a raised optic ridge. “You finished the Omega Lock?”

“Yes. And we’ve already revived Cybertron. Now we need to start rebuilding.”

“You already revived Cybertron!?” Wheeljack snapped. “When were you going to tell us!?”

“We would have told you eventually. But it’s not like we were really keeping it a secret. We just can’t let the Autobots return to Cybertron yet.”

“WHAT??” Wheeljack roared. “IT’S OUR WORLD TOO! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT-!”

X-ray’s patience snapped. “I’M  _ SORRY _ ! OK, WHEELJACK?!” he yelled back, startling the Wrecker. He was angry now too but he lowered his voice and repeated, “I’m sorry. There was nothing we could do. It was one of the conditions that the vehicon commander made. Because  _ obviously _ ,” he waved a servo at the mine, “tensions are still high and they don’t want any of their people to get hurt. And I don’t blame them one bit.”

Wheeljack was still upset about everything but he did understand X-ray’s point so he took a step back. “So… where does all of this put us?” he asked. “Our relationship?”

X-ray looked down and hugged his arm. “I-I don’t know… I mean, I get that you are mad at me. And if you want to take a break or even completely break it off, I understand. But I…” he met Wheeljack’s optics again. “I was hoping that we could work it out. And that one day soon I could happily welcome you back to Cybertron.” He finished with a weak shrug.

Wheeljack just silently stared at him for a bit, then he looked at the ground. “I need some time to think about this.”

X-ray flinched, hurt. “…I understand.”

Just then, a vehicon appeared at the mine entrance. “Sorry to interrupt, X-ray, but Hirry says she needs your help.”

X-ray turned to them. “Alright. Thank you. Tell her I’ll be right there.” To Wheeljack, “We won’t be heading back to Cybertron for a couple of weeks so you can call me at any time.” And walked away.

Wheeljack decided to drive back to base because it was going to be a long drive and it would give him plenty of time to think. He liked X-ray, he really did. But this… the fact that the CRC, that  _ X-ray _ had been working with the Decepticons, was still working with them, had helped them revive Cybertron, that his suspicions had been  _ right! _ ...All of this was hard to accept. And he was angry. Angry at the CRC, at X-ray, at himself!

Wheeljack looked up in time to realize that there was a human standing on the road in front of him. He slammed on his brakes and came to a screeching halt with his bumper just an inch from their legs. They reached up and pushed back the hood of the short cloak they were wearing. Of course, it was a familiar face.

“Hey, Wheeljack,” she said. “You got a minute?”

Wheeljack transformed and slammed his fist down on the road next to Liliy. She didn’t even flinch as she looked up at him.

“You've got a lot of nerve showing your face right now,” he growled, giving her a death glare.

She stared up at him, undaunted. “I thought you deserved a proper explanation, for X-ray’s sake.”

Wheeljack’s optics narrowed. “Alright. For his sake, I'll listen.”

Liliy brought Wheeljack back to the CRC base and now they were sitting in Leecher’s office.

“This story actually goes back to when the Omega Lock was initially activated on Cybertron,” Liliy said. “Did you hear about any of that by chance?”

“Yeah,” Wheeljack replied, shifting the chair closer so he could lean his arm on the desk where Liliy sat. “Miko told me all about it. Quite enthusiastically too. Was there something she missed?”

“Yes. Something that only Optimus, and coincidently Smokescreen, know about. Something that the CRC did. And, knowing Optimus, he probably hasn’t said a word about it yet.”

“What did you do?”

“When the Decepticons initially fired the Omega Lock through their space bridge at Earth, we used our space bridge to intercept the energy stream and sent it back to Cybertron. To the Well of Allsparks to be exact. We managed to partially revive our planet before our space bridge collapsed. 

“When Optimus destroyed the Lock, he was devastated because he didn’t know. I never got the chance to properly tell him with everything going on at the time. He really thought he had doomed Cybertron for good. I don’t know what he was thinking when he stayed behind to destroy the ground bridge when the Autobots evacuated Omega One, but I don't think he expected to survive. Sometimes I get the feeling that he didn’t want to.”

Wheeljack frowned. “Are you suggesting that Optimus intentionally tried to get himself killed?”

Liliy shrugged. “He’s tired, Wheeljack. I wouldn’t put it past him.”

His frown deepened. “We’re talking about the same mech, right?  _ The  _ Optimus Prime?”

Liliy sighed, knowing that that line of thought would be hard for an Autobot to accept, even if it was Wheeljack. 

“We’re getting slightly off topic,” she said. “Smokescreen saved Optimus from the rubble and my boys brought them both back here, as you know. Optimus was too badly damaged for them to fix and it was impossible to do a spark transplant with the Matrix in the way. Smokescreen got the bright idea to use the Forge of Solus Prime to fix him. However, Optimus wouldn’t allow it because of how little power it had left. He wanted them to use it to restore the Omega Lock.”

“But the Forge requires a Prime to wield it. Who-?”

“Smokescreen.”

“The kid?” Wheeljack shook his helm in disbelief. “He’s just a rookie. He’s got a good helm but he’s nowhere near ready to lead the Autobots.”

“I know that. Leecher knew that. Even Smokescreen himself knew that. But Optimus, still thinking he doomed Cybertron, was ready to give up and let someone else lead. Optimus actually died and the Matrix presented itself to Smokescreen.”

“So why didn’t he take it?”

“He hesitated at first but, after some persuasive comments from my boys, he made the decision to bring Optimus back instead. When Optimus woke up, he was disappointed to say the least, even if he didn’t express it. But Leecher told him not to be upset with Smokescreen because there was still hope for Cybertron even without the Forge and told him what we did. He was so relieved to hear that that I think he almost cried.”

“Again, are we talking about the same mech?”

“Optimus experiences emotions just like the rest of us, Wheeljack. He just tends to hide them because he thinks that he has to be strong and unshakable since he is the Prime. But he is not. In fact, I think he tends to feel more deeply than most people.

“Anyway, back to the main topic. After X-ray dragged you back here and I took Miko back to the Autobot base, I had a private conversation with Optimus about Cybertron's condition. At the time, the amount of energy we managed to transfer was not enough to completely revive the planet. Optimus suggested we find a way to give it more. So I said I’d send Bravo up there to look into rebuilding the Omega Lock.”

“Isn’t that what the Forge was supposed to be for?”

“Well, yeah. But you rather have had the rookie come kick Megatron’s aft, or Optimus?”

“You have a point.”

“I think, if we gave Cybertron enough time, it would have revived itself on its own with the energy we gave it, but we didn’t want to wait that long. So I sent Bravo to take a look. But then you guys had to go and blow up Shockwave’s cloning operation and in doing so, the Decepticons discovered a way to create pure cybermatter. Which, then, led Shockwave to consider rebuilding the Omega Lock too.”

“Oh yeah. Whatever happened to that predacon?” Wheeljack asked, curiously.

“Predaking? He lost the fight against Megatron and got kicked off the Nemesis. So I went and picked him up and kept him in stasis for a while. He’s awake and on Cybertron now, doing some scouting for me.”

“ _ Seriously!? _ You even let the predacon go to Cybertron before us?”

“He’s been a big help actually. Between him and Kilo, the insecticons have been properly behaving.”

“How did you even manage-?” He didn’t have the energy to finish the question.

Liliy laughed. “We found the strongest one and beat the scrap out of him using the Leecher armor. My blade was very convincing as well. That is how I also pacified Predaking originally, actually.”

Wheeljack rubbed the side of his helm. “So, back to the Omega Lock…”

“Right. Shockwave showed up to dismantle the damaged Lock while Bravo was there making plans to rebuild it. When Bravo found out what Shockwave wanted to do, he offered his services.”

“Why would he do that?”

“That’s exactly what I asked. His reason: the Decepticons had what we, even with the aid of the Autobots, did not: Mechpower. With the vehicon forces, Bravo could, and did, rebuild the Lock in just a couple of weeks. I was against the plan at first. But Bravo had even come up with a plan to stop the Cons from using the Lock against Earth. 

“Once the Lock was finished, we led a coordinated strike against the Decepticon high command, taking them all down at the same time. That left AA-00, the vehicon commander, as the highest authority on the ship. It took some convincing but we got them to agree to let the vehicons help us rebuild Cybertron. After that, we made quick work of gaining the insecticons’ help. And then we went to Cybertron to dump the cybermatter that was supposed to be used on Earth into Cybertron’s core, effectively reviving the planet. Now we’re back for a little while to clean up all the Decepticon mining operations and collect all the vehicons.”

“And then what?” Wheeljack asked. “You’re leaving this planet for good?”

“Of course not. This base has to remain active. Where do you think we are keeping Megatron and the others?”

His jaw dropped. “They’re still  _ alive _ ?!”

Liliy raised an eyebrow. “Yeah... I had no reason to actually kill them. Besides, that goes against the vows of the CRC.”

“Hhh. Alright. Let me get this straight…” Wheeljack said, “the CRC were just using the Cons to build the Omega Lock and now you are using the vehicons to rebuild Cybertron?”

“Working with them, not using them,” Liliy corrected. “But, yeah, that’s more or less it.”

Wheeljack covered his face with his servo. “I think I owe X-ray an apology.”

“He’s in the washracks,” she replied abruptly.

He looked at her. “Huh?”

Liliy stared off into the distance, as if watching something he couldn’t see. “It seems like they are done with that mine. He probably came back here instead of returning to the Nemesis because running into you really upset him.”

Wheeljack stood up. “Then with your permission?”

Liliy smiled. “Of course.”

When Wheeljack entered the washracks, X-ray was towards the back, just staring at the wall while he let the warm spray run over his frame.

“X...?” Wheeljack called softly.

X-ray flinched at the sound of his voice. He glanced over his shoulder at Wheeljack before quickly turning away again and rubbing at his optics.

Wheeljack picked up a cloth and put some soap on it as he passed the benches and came over to X-ray. “Here. Step out of the spray and let me help you suds up.”

X-ray reluctantly did so but he would not look at Wheeljack. He was startled when Wheeljack suddenly knelt in front of him and started cleaning his peds.

“X-ray, I want to--no, I  _ need _ to apologize to you,” Wheeljack said as he worked. “I was angry and I acted rashly. I should have given you the benefit of the doubt and listened to a proper explanation. I am sorry. Will you forgive me for doubting you?”

He looked up at X-ray, who was just staring down at him with a stunned expression. 

Wheeljack dropped his gaze again and continued wiping down X-ray’s legs. “I guess it's too early to ask that. But I just wanted you to know right away since Liliy explained everything to me. She-”

A pair of servos grabbed his helm, forcing him to look up again. X-ray leaned down and was kissing him before he could get his thoughts straight.

“Does this mean…?” he asked when X-ray finally pulled away.

“Yes,” X-ray replied, his voice hitching slightly. “Of course I forgive you, Wheeljack, because I… I love you.”

Wheeljack's optics widened for a moment before his mouth parted in a soft smile.

“I love you too, my beautiful spark.”

X-ray smiled back. “Now hurry up and help me finish so we can go somewhere more comfortable to talk.”

“Gladly.”

After they got him washed and dried, X-ray led Wheeljack, servo in servo, down a hallway that he had never been down before.

“X, where are we going?”

“My room.”

Wheeljack stopped short in the doorway of said room. When he had originally asked to see X-ray’s room, the mech had refused, saying that Wheeljack wouldn't get to see it until X-ray was ready to take the next step. Now they were here.

“X-ray, are you sure about this?”

X-ray was blushing. “Yes.”

“Then be sure to lock the door.”

“Hmh. Of course.” X-ray pulled him into the room and the door closed behind them as they embraced each other.

"What are you so happy about, Madam?" Victor asked, sitting down at the table where Liliy was in the rec room, a cube of energon in servo.

"Hmm." Liliy's little smile turned into a satisfied grin. "Wheeljack and X-ray made up."

"Oh?"

"They just went to X-ray's room."

Victor grinned as well. "Oho. That is good news. I'm happy for them. X-ray seemed a bit depressed since we started this whole thing."

"Yeah." She took a thoughtful sip from her small cube. "But now that Wheeljack knows about everything, I'm going to have to tell the rest of the Autobots."

"Ugh. I wish you luck." And took a drink.

"...Thanks," she muttered into her cube.

Wheeljack’s comm unit had come back online at some point and was now beeping insistently at him. He grumbled quietly as he untangled himself from X-ray and sat up on the berth. X-ray rolled over and draped an arm across Wheeljack’s lap, hooking his thumb on the wrecker’s hip armor, effectively keeping him from getting off the berth.

Wheeljack smirked at that and then let out a long vent, knowing he was about to get an audailful as soon as he answered the comm.

“Yes?” he said, in a tired, half whisper.

**{WHEELJACK! WHERE THE FRAG HAVE YOU BEEN? WE HAVE TRYING TO CONTACT YOU FOR HOURS! YOUR CHECK-IN TIME WAS-}**

“Look, doc-”

**{WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT CALLING ME-}**

“Look, Ratch. I got distracted, alright?”

**{W-why are you whispering? Distracted by what?}**

“What do you think?” Wheeljack asked as he felt X-ray sit up next to him.

“Come back to berth, sweetspark” X-ray mumbled, wrapping his arms around Wheeljack’s chassis. “I’m still tired.”

**{Wait. Was that…?}**

“It’s kinda complicated, Ratchet. You’ll have to ask Liliy for the details. I’m going back to recharge. Good night.” And turned off his comm. Wheeljack turned his helm and kissed X-ray. “Sorry about that, love.”

“You’re not in trouble, are you?”

“If I am, I’ll let Liliy handle it.”

“You’ll have to make it up to her later then,” X-ray said as they laid back down.

“Hm.” Wheeljack hugged him tight. “Anything for a little more time with you.”


	4. Chapter 4

After Wheeljack hung up on them...

“Ha! I knew it!” exclaimed Bulkhead. “Jackie is fragging X-ray.”

“You mean fraternizing with the enemy?” Ultra Magnus corrected with a hard tone that made Bulkhead flinch.

“We don’t know that. Wheeljack said it was complicated,” said Optimus. “Ratchet, contact Liliy.”

Ratchet grumbled about it but dialed Liliy anyway.

She answered right away.  **{Hoh. If you’re calling me, you must have got in contact with Wheeljack.}**

“So he is at your base?” asked Ratchet.

**{Yes. I brought him here to clear up a misunderstanding. He ran into X-ray while out scouting and, from what I understand, there was an argument. I wasn’t about to let a relationship go sour for one of my boys.}**

“And then they ended up in a berthroom together?”

**{Yes, they did.}** Sounding every bit like a proud mother. 

“It would be great if you could clear up that misunderstanding for us as well,” said Optimus. “Is it true that you-”

**{Just a moment, Optimus. This would be easier to do face-to-face. Give me a few minutes and I will be over to explain everything.}**

“I look forward to it.”

**{Of course.}**

When she arrived, Liliy got hostile glares from at least two of the bots, namely Ratchet and Ultra Magnus. Ratchet she was used to. He was really no more hostile than normal. Ultra Magnus on the other hand… He made her plating tingle.

She went up to the platform and even hopped up on the railing to give herself more height. She pushed up her visor and matched him glare for glare.

“You got something to say,  _ commander _ ?” The title came out as an insult rather than a sign of respect. 

“Fraternizing with the enemy is a highly punishable offense,” he replied, almost a growl.

Liliy raised an optic ridge. “Are you talking about Wheeljack?” Then she grinned. “Oh, commander, don’t you know the saying: ‘To the victor goes the spoils’?”

He frowned. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“The CRC is a neutral party,” she started explaining. “It is true that we were helping the Decepticons rebuild the Omega Lock. Megatron thought he was using us, but in reality, we were actually using them. And thanks to you guys taking down Soundwave, the plan to take down the Decepticons from the inside was a huge success. With the cooperation of the vehicons and the Lock under our control, Cybertron has been revived as a  _ Neutral _ planet. So not only is it the Decepticons’ loss, it is your loss as well.”

“Cybertron lives?” most of them gaped.

She smirked. “That’s right. With the cybermatter that was meant to cyberform Earth, we were able to finish reviving the heart of Primus.”

“Wait, hold on,” Ratchet said. “What do you mean ‘finish’?”

“Optimus and Smokescreen already know this but when Megatron tried to cyberform Earth the first time, we intercepted the cybermatter stream and sent it back to Cybertron. Obviously it was not enough to completely revive the planet but with time it might have done so. However, you guys had to go and blow up Shockwave’s lab, giving the Cons a key component for rebuilding the Lock so we had to move.”

“Do you realize how much tech you stole?” Fowler suddenly snapped, banging his fist on the top of the rail. He had come up on her left side and was glaring up at her. “That is going to cost a ton of money to replace.”

Shifting her peds slightly to keep her balance on the rail, Liliy looked down at him and shrugged. “As long as no one died, I don’t really care. But I do know a couple of great hackers, allocating some money for you won’t be a problem.”

He eyed her. “Why does it sound like you are suggesting some more theft?”

“Do you really think billionaires  _ need _ all that money? It will be subtle. They won’t even notice.”

Fowler dragged his hand down his face and sighed. “I’d rather not know. Plausible deniability and all that.”

“Alright. I’ll keep the details to myself,” Liliy said. She turned back to the Bots. “Now then, back to the main topic.”

“You said it is our loss. But will you still allow us to return to Cybertron?” asked Optimus.

“About that… I’m fine with it. But unfortunately, AA-00 is not.”

“AA-00?” Ratchet repeated.

“Who’s that?” Bulkhead asked.

“The vehicon commander,” Liliy explained. “In order to gain control of the Lock since it is attached to the Nemesis, we had to make a deal with the vehicons. I am the new leader of Cybertron but AA-00 also gets a say in how things are done.”

“So you  _ did _ make a deal with the Decepticons,” Ultra Magnus said.

“No,” Liliy corrected. “More like my family just got a whole heck of a lot bigger.”

“If the war is over, then there is no need for us to fight,” said Arcee. “What is the problem?”

“Trust,” replied Liliy. “Tensions are still high. The notion that the war has ended is still setting in. AA-00 is afraid that their vehicons will get hurt. Trust is the biggest issue right now.”

“We can be trustworthy,” said Smokescreen.

“Heh.” Liliy shook her helm. “Do you have any idea how many vehicons there were on the Nemesis when they first came to Earth? Five thousand. Do you know how many you have taken down since Cliffjumper? Almost a  _ thousand. _ Let that sink in! They lost nearly one fifth of their forces to a mere handful of Autobots. Of course they have trust issues! And I would also like to bring up the incident with Ucon,” she snapped, voice raising, optics flashing, glaring at those who were involved. “I asked you to hold back, but did you listen? NO, YOU DIDN’T!”

Smokescreen stared at her, wide-opticed, like a kicked puppy. “I-I didn’t…”

Everyone else was either glaring or looking ashamed.

Her gaze softened as she looked at the rookie. “I’m not mad at you, Smokescreen. And if I’m being honest, you might be the only one who could get along with them right now. The vehicons’ reaction to Wheeljack showing up wasn’t exactly the friendliest from what I heard.”

“Well, it is Wheeljack you’re talking about,” said Ratchet.

“True.”

“...Is there nothing we can do?” Optimus asked.

“There is nothing you can do  _ right now _ ,” Liliy answered. “Except give us time to start rebuilding. Give me a few months and I’ll do my best to convince AA-00. Since Cybertron will be a neutral planet, everyone will be allowed to return  _ eventually _ . But you guys just might happen to have an early access pass, so to speak.”

“We do?”

Liliy looked up at Optimus specifically. “Yes, you do.”

He frowned. “I… don’t understand.”

“Cybertron is currently able to sustain life,” Liliy explained. “But it still cannot produce new life.”

“Ah…” Optimus said, understanding. “The Allspark.”

“Correct.”

“The Allspark?” asked Ratchet. “Now I don’t understand.”

“Are you saying the Allspark isn’t on Cybertron?” Smokescreen asked.

“Nor has it been, Smokescreen,” Optimus replied. “Not for thousands of years. As the war for Cybertron reached a tipping point and the Decepticon army appeared to be unstoppable, I opted to safeguard the Allspark from Megatron by covertly sending it to a distant sector of the galaxy. The Matrix of Leadership will enable me to find its present location. But I am curious how you came to know about all of this, Liliy?”

“Oh, I had no idea that it was you who removed it from the planet. I just knew it wasn’t there and it was more of a hunch that you could find it with the Matrix. I’m glad I was right about it though. But like I said, give us some time to get settled in and start rebuilding before you go and get it.”

“I don’t know. It might take us that long just to find it. It’s just, I’ll need Wheeljack. He has the most experience navigating deep space.”

“I’ll leave that up to him then. But, could you at least wait until we leave since X-ray will be coming with us?”

“How long?”

“About two more weeks.”

“Very well.”

“Excellent. Then I’ll let you guys know when we head out,” she said as she hopped off the rail. She started to walk off but then she paused. “Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. I have something for you, Ratchet.”

“For me?”

“Yeah.” She went over to the human sized computers and inserted a flash drive. “Since you’ve been working so diligently on it, I might as well help you out.”

The completed Scyth’N formula popped up on the monitor. 

“That’s…”

“I do believe you were told that we had it.”

“A lot has happened since then, alright?”

She smirked. “Indeed it has. Well then, I’ll be going.” And waved as she disappeared into a ground bridge portal.


End file.
